The Fray lands at No. 1 on charts

Epic Records act moves 179,000 units

The second, self-titled album from the Fray, the Denver band that gained prominence after getting songs placed on “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scrubs,” sold 179,000 copies last week to debut at No. 1 on the nation’s album sales chart.

The Epic Records act greatly outdistanced last week’s No. 1, Bruce Springsteen’s “Working on a Dream,” which sold 102,000 and dipped to No. 2, according to Nielsen SoundScan data. Album took a 55% sales drop from its opening week. All of its sales in the stanza came after Springsteen’s appearance at the Super Bowl. The Wal-Mart exclusive edition of Springsteen’s “Greatest Hits” sold 13,000 copies, rising 41 slots to No. 43.

Dierks Bentley’s fourth studio album “Feel That Fire” (Capitol Nashville) sold 71,000 to light up at No. 3 in its first week. The 15th edition of Razor and Tie’s “Kidz Bop” series sold 58,000 to open at No. 7, extending its streak of top 10 debuts to nine.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus’ sophomore set for Virgin, “Lonely Road,” sold 26,000 (No. 14). Florida band’s new single, “Pen and Paper,” was originally given away as an MP3 at Christmas to fans on the act’s MySpace page. Their Virgin debut, “Don’t You Fake,” was released in August 2006, and although it never topped No. 25, it spent 62 weeks in the top 200.

Among other debuts were A Day to Remember’s “Homesick” (Victory), which moved 22,000 (No. 21); Wynonna’s “Sing Chapter 1” (Curb), 14,000 (37); and the debut album from “American Idol” finalist Melinda Doolittle, “It’s Your Love,” 11,000 (No. 58).

Sunday’s Grammy Awards will see their full effect on disc sales next week, but a few bumps occurred on the current sales chart as digital sales came in just under the wire. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ “Raising Sand,” which won five Grammys, sold 9,000 to re-enter the top 200 at No. 68. Best new artist Adele saw her “19” sell 18,000, rising 29 slots to No. 27.